COMMERCE, TEXAS – Lions soccer (14-5-0) extended its winning streak to six games, winning the rubber match against Midwestern State (8-6-5) in the semifinal round of the LSC Championship by a score of 2-1.
 
Savannah Henderson picked up her fifth game-winning goal of the season near the end of the first half, after Julia Hernandez's crossing-attempt was blocked by a Mustang-defender. Henderson scooped up the ricochet and dribbled with it before firing it past Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Courtney Burnette (38').
 
"The ball came to the middle of the field, the defender slipped, I took my stance, and floated it to the back. I didn't really see it go in, but I heard the crowd, and it was pretty awesome," said Henderson, "I liked the field. It was wet and sloppy, and was like a traditional English field, I loved it. I'm pretty excited, that's a big win for us."
 
Midwestern State struck first in the contest very early on, as junior forward Ashley Cottrell set up the LSC Freshman of the Year Destinee Williamson, who ran a looping route around the box before finding herself one on one with Lions keeper Courtnie Northern, who advanced forward to challenge. Williamson chipped it past Northern's reach and into the undefended net (6'), giving the Mustangs an early 1-0 advantage. Northern, whose shutout streak was capped at 306 minutes, finished the night with a modest workload, making two saves on the evening and improving her record to 12-5.
 

Twenty-six minutes elapsed before the Lions found an answer on offense. Henderson wound up with the ball on the left side of the box, and chipped it to Jade Bell at the top of the box. Bell immediately identified a wide-open Anitra Wright on the right of the box, who slammed the ball into the far side of the net (32') for her second goal of the season. On the score, Jade Bell extended her point-scoring streak to six games, while Savannah Henderson's LSC-lead in points was increased to 33 (13G, 7A).
 
"We kept at it, and we kept getting chances, and once we scored, I think we took it to them a little bit," said head coach Neil Piper, "It was a team effort. I thought Jade, despite missing some chances, worked hard. Julia (Hernandez) was all over the place defensively. Our center-mids ran hard, and I thought Vicky Back was great at the back end. I honestly thought every one did their job well."

The Lions and Mustangs split the regular-season series, each winning 2-1 on the other team's home-field. By winning, the Lions took the rubber-match and improved their all-time record against Midwestern State to 11-17-4.

With the win, the Lions move to within one win of taking the LSC Tournament Championship. If the Lions could pull that off, it would be the first time since 1999 that the program has won both the regular season and conference-tournament. To do that, they'll have to get through the Angelo State University Rambelles (15-3-1), who clinched their berth into the final thanks to a Sierra Anderson hat-trick which propelled ASU to a 3-1 win over Eastern New Mexico.
 
"I think it'll be a pretty fun game, and it'll be big for regional seeding," said Piper, "I think Angelo and Commerce were the two best teams this year, so it's fitting that we're in the final. It'll be a good, entertaining game."
 
The game is scheduled for Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m. Tickets for adults thirteen and over cost $5 at the gate. For children 12 and younger, as well as students from the participating schools with valid student IDs, admission is free of charge.